News 11:00

BULLETIN 7 February 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The minister of Public Works welcomes Ramaphosa’s infrastructure investment commitments
# Mining communities reject minister Mantashe’s comments on the Stilfontein deaths
# And, Amnesty International says Trump’s executive order against the International Criminal Court is reckless

# Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson, has welcomed president Cyril Ramaphosa’s support for the work his department has been doing to turn South Africa into a construction site. In his state of the nation address, Ramaphosa stated that government plans to attract at least 100-billion-rand in private sector investment towards infrastructure financing. Macpherson says the president also committed to the revitalising of small harbours to attract greater economic activity:

Meanwhile Build One South Africa says the state of the nation address was full of promises yet empty in realistic delivery. Leader Mmusi Maimane says the harsh reality is that the economy is contracting, corruption remains rampant without consequence, and critical services like education and water continue to deteriorate. He says without a fundamental shift in governance, South Africa remains on the same path of stagnation:

# Mining Affected Communities United in Action has slammed Mineral and Petroleum Resources minister Gwede Mantashe’s remarks on the deaths of nearly 80 illegal miners in Stilfontein, North West. They argue his comments at the Mining Indaba this week, where he claimed the miners chose to go underground, were callous and an attempt to justify government inaction. The advocacy group’s Sabelo Mnguni accuses the state of deliberately blocking aid, leading to starvation, and calls for Mantashe’s resignation:

# Amnesty International says US president Donald Trump’s executive order imposing economic sanctions against the International Criminal Court is reckless and vindictive. The order imposes asset freezes and travel bans against ICC staff who were involved in efforts to investigate or prosecute US citizens and certain allies including Israel. Amnesty International says institutions like the ICC are needed more than ever, to advance human rights protections, prevent future atrocities, and secure justice for victims.

# Rugby: Matthieu Jalibert replaces suspended flyhalf Romain Ntamack in France’s team for tomorrow’s Six Nations clash with England at Twickenham. Ntamack was given a red card in his first match for Les Bleus after a 17-month injury-forced absence. He was sent off after a dangerous tackle on Welsh centre Ben Thomas during last weekend’s match in Paris, and was banned for three weeks or three matches. Jalibert returns for the first time since leaving the national setup in November for personal reasons.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-45-cents and the euro at 19-rand-14-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-93-cents and Bitcoin trades at 97-thousand-13-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-863-dollars-13-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-57-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….